Ep 606: The Rise of Personal Brands in Direct Sales with Sarah Robbins
Rory & AJ Vaden (00:00)
Hey everybody and welcome to the influential personal brand podcast. I’m so excited to get to interview my good friend, Sarah Robbins today. Not only is Sarah a great friend, ⁓ but she is one bad mamma jamma when it comes to everything we’re going to talk about today. And this is one of those unique episodes that we’re really going in into a niche realm of where do we see a rise of the personal brand.
Sarah Robbins (00:15)
Thank
Rory & AJ Vaden (00:29)
in the direct sales space. But it’s not just for direct sales. It’s about leadership and recruiting and growing and scaling and building teams. But Sarah has this unbelievable origin story of how she went from kindergarten teacher to billion, multi-billion dollar network marketing legend. That’s not her words, those are my words. Legendary.
And I think it’s a really important thing to go at, hey, in a market, in an economy where there’s so much change happening with AI and technology, and then we see some industries literally changing, some crumbling, some rising, but change rampant. Direct sales is one of those industries that we have seen this enormous change, and Sarah herself has seen an enormous change of what that looked like for her a year ago to what that looks like.
today and this interview is for anyone who’s going, well, what have I really built my reputation on? What have I built my personal brand on and is that going to get me to where I want to be? And this interview is on the precipice of her very first book launch. So we’re going to also get to talk about her awesome new book, The Multiply Method. There are so many other things that I could say, but this is an interview that is worth the listen. So stay tuned in all the way to the very end and then you guys can catch my recap.
So Sarah, are you ready to dig in? This is gonna be awesome. Okay, so I want to start with this kind of very little preview of what I gave everyone when I said from kindergarten teacher to multi-million dollar direct sales leader. Like come again what? Like tell us about that. Like where did you start? Where was it? How did this happen? Over how long? But we need to know all the details.
Sarah Robbins (01:54)
go! ⁓
Well, first of all, thank you for having me. You are so incredible and I cannot wait for this time together. My story really starts from humble beginnings. I was a kindergarten teacher in Michigan back in the recession of 08. We all know what was happening during the recession, but most particularly Michigan, the automotive industry. lived in Motown, Motor City, Metro Detroit.
And although I was the most requested teacher in the building, teacher tenure trumped performance. So I was in a place where I kept hearing, you could lose your job. You’re the low man on the totem pole. And I kept thinking we really need my income. So I had to look for additional streams of income. And my search led me to my company. Now I will say this, my company that I was with for 18 years,
was not in direct sales when it started. It was first a retail brand. And my mom was freelancing for them doing events. It was a skincare company. And she said, I can get you a job making $20 an hour. So I was the girl that passed out the samples. And so I have compassion on the ladies when they’re passing out the samples. I was making 20 bucks an hour. I was in the right place in God’s time. We’ll one day, letting us know good news and bad news.
The bad news was we were going to lose that job, the freelancing job. But the good news was they had another opportunity for us. They were going to leave retail, go into direct sales, and did we want to do it? And I will be honest, I knew nothing about direct sales except for the fact that I would never do it. I had no network. I was shy. I was young. I was broke. I had no experience in sales, but my mother
was a savvy, successful serial entrepreneur. She did everything she could to be at home and raise her three girls. I remember growing up in an in-home daycare. So she would do real estate. She had other direct sales ventures. And she said, Sarah, you know, I know people who have become really successful doing businesses like these. We would be crazy not to do it. So I’m the first born kid, which means I’m the compliant child. Thank goodness I listened to my mom and I started the business.
very part-time alongside of my full-time job. And eventually that school year, we ended up replacing our teaching income. And I will say one year, yes. And keep in mind, her and I didn’t have mentors. We didn’t have training in the company at the time. We were the first two. We didn’t even have a compensation plan. We didn’t know how we were going to get paid. But I will tell you, I became a student of our profession. I started buying the books, going to the events.
Rory & AJ Vaden (04:45)
with a new year.
Sarah Robbins (05:04)
Again, when we had nobody else to follow. Then fast forward, I recruit, you know, my first kind of like crop of leaders and I start creating a sales team. ⁓ and it was interesting. I put in my leave of absence with teaching because I was too scared to walk away and I just never went back. I feel like I still owe somebody an explanation. Like, I’m so sorry. Like I should probably write that letter letter someday, but
Rory & AJ Vaden (05:06)
Thanks.
Thanks
Sarah Robbins (05:28)
We went on in under five years to build that team to over a billion dollars in sales. So arguably the most successful sales team in the history of our industry. And we changed millions of lives. have hundreds of thousands of people on our team, millions of customers. And it truly was incredible what we were able to accomplish in one company over 18 years of time.
Rory & AJ Vaden (05:57)
So I want to pause right there for a second. First of all, that’s a good lesson and never say never. That’s right. Never say never. ⁓ but also like, what do you think it was from you going, okay, I’m a teacher, no sales experience to all right, I can do this. I am doing this. wow. I’m doing really good at this. Like, I think there’s so many of us who first we never make the leap. We just don’t have enough belief in our sales and ourselves to take the risk.
or we give ourselves the excuse, don’t know how, so we don’t learn. I think there’s a lot of things. So what was it in you? Like what was that difference? Because I know you’ve also worked with tens of thousands of people over the years. You’ve got to have seen some trends on this is how I know this person’s gonna make it.
Sarah Robbins (06:46)
Yeah, it was the power of decision for me. And I remember a distinct day, I was actually in my car waiting in the parking lot for Bible study. And my mom’s friend who was a leader on her team called me, her name is Rochelle. And she said, and at the time I was really struggling in my business. And she said, Sarah, do you want to know what is going to help to get you unstuck? And I’m like, yes. Like, and I think she’s, she’s going to give me like some magic system, secret sauce, whatever.
And she’s like, you are showing up to everything. I would go to every meeting, every call, every event. She said, you are doing one thing, but you are saying another. would say things like, nobody’s joining me. Everybody’s quitting my team. And she said, you have to decide. You have to make a decision. And in that moment, I was like, I will be successful and do whatever it takes. And at the time, people would refer to me as Chris’s daughter, Chris is my mom.
And, you I was young and I’m kind of just learning the ropes from her. And I thought, you know what? I’m going to lead a team. I’m going to start stepping into my leadership, even when, you know, I don’t have a big team of people to follow me. And I really started to invest in my personal and professional growth. mean, I remember literally that year I went into a deep dive for one year studying the power of my words. And I thought at of the day, if nothing happens in this business.
Rory & AJ Vaden (08:11)
Mm.
Sarah Robbins (08:16)
I will be a better wife. At the time I didn’t have kids. have two beautiful boys now, but someday I will be a better mother. I’m going to be a better friend. So I invested as much into the business as I did myself, but it was a decision.
Rory & AJ Vaden (08:29)
That’s good. I love that. And I also have to tell you this for everyone who’s listening. I love that you said that for the longest time you were Chris’s daughter. And for everyone listening, I randomly ran into an old friend of mine who happened to be with Sarah’s mom that I didn’t know. And then I got to be like, you’re Sarah’s mom, right? Full circle, full circle.
Sarah Robbins (08:52)
See ya! ⁓
Rory & AJ Vaden (08:55)
Because now it’s, it was such a sweet serendipitous moment too, but you have gone from Chris’s daughter to now she is Sarah’s mom. So I love that. But I love that. It’s like, it’s invest in yourself and to make the decision. And then a little bit of no excuses. It’s like between books and coaches and classes and conferences and now podcasts and TikTok and social media and blogs. It’s like,
Sarah Robbins (09:03)
Yeah. See you guys in a beautiful mom.
Yes.
Rory & AJ Vaden (09:22)
The information is there. Whether or not we choose to find it, use it, act on it, that’s up to us. But the information is there. Now, so for 18 years, you were building this billion dollar business, had a whole bunch of team, making a whole bunch of money. What happened a year ago?
Sarah Robbins (09:43)
Well, from billions to blank slate, I got a call on July 15th, one year ago, and it was a surprise leadership call. And we didn’t have surprise leadership calls. And I was shocked because we had just gotten back from a company trip. Our team at the time was still doing over $1.6 billion in sales in a year. And it was an attorney on the screen letting us know that the model as we knew
would be no longer, that we would be losing for us personally 99.9 % of our income. And that would be gone. Our entire sales team that we had built over 18 years, it would be gone in 60 days. 60 days. And I just remember, first of all, a couple of things. You and I had been in a mastermind and we were at a retreat together and you sharing your story of just redemption. And that gave me hope.
And another thing that gave me hope was six months prior to that happening. And I don’t get to share the story often, but I was in a church meeting and my pastor’s mentor called me out of a crowd. He does not know me. And he said, girl in the sparkly shoes, he said, a great betrayal is coming to you and God is going to heal it. The thing you thought would be forever. God is going to change the trajectory.
Now you can imagine I was scared. I’m like, who’s going to betray me? What was the thing I thought was going to be forever? He said, but you have not done anything wrong. Nothing is out of order and nothing is out of place. He said, suddenly people will come to you and say, what will it take for you to sell this or do this? And he said, in 18 months, it will make up for the past three years. I got that phone call and keep in mind, I forgot about that word. I recorded it in my phone, but it was so obscure.
At the time it was scary. So I was like, I actually don’t ever want to listen to this again. And I laid down and I heard, be reminded of that word. And so I remembered that it was literally six months to the day. And I opened it up and I listened to it and I start to weep. And I thought, you know what? I will not get caught up into unforgiveness or betrayal. And I literally started getting on the phone. And of course it’s like, what do we do in those moments? I’m like,
we got to think of some next steps. So I started to call some friends in the industry, some mentors, and they’re like, Sarah, what do you want to do? Because we had done really well in that past season. Do you want to do more of your coaching? Do you want to do corporate? I was like, no thanks. No thanks. Do you want to start your own company? I’m like, man, that sounds like a lot of work. I got two businesses, two babies. And it took me two seconds to say, I want to do this again.
Rory & AJ Vaden (12:34)
Mm.
Sarah Robbins (12:34)
And so I really started with two things. It was forgiveness. And you could see all the way back to July 15th from public social media posts to private conversations was I have honored everything and everyone in that past season because it set us up to where we are today. And then the next thing was faith was, you know, just believing that everything we lost would be restored. Even our joy.
And having friends like you, having a lot of other entrepreneurial friends that had walked through hard things, stories of loss, which you share about in your book. And I have seen them come out stronger on the other side. And that, for me, was enough to give me that hope and that inspiration that I needed to really see me through in that season.
Rory & AJ Vaden (13:22)
Yeah, and I, you know, I got to walk with you through this season and, know, I think this is just for everyone who’s listening, whether you’re in this season where you feel like everything that you thought you knew is changing or it’s gone. ⁓ I know that there’s layoffs happening all over the country. There’s just, there’s changes. Maybe it’s in your personal life, your professional life. Maybe you’ve had that before, or maybe it’s going to happen to you in the future. I think that there’s just so many stories. If you just look for them of how the change.
that was the most painful, the most unexpected, was for the best. It was for the best. And it’s something that you probably would have never done proactively. I probably wouldn’t have done mine proactively, but it’s not even forgiveness, it’s gratefulness. It’s like, thank you, because I’m in this new life, I’m in this new season, I’m on this new trajectory that I likely would have never been on if that hadn’t have been for this thing. And so…
Sarah Robbins (14:05)
Yeah. Yeah.
Rory & AJ Vaden (14:17)
for everyone who’s listening, just encourage that the pains that you go through prepare you for the purpose that’s ahead. you know, Sarah, this is such a great story of everything that you walk through and yes, could it have been a coincidence? Could it have been luck? Could you have just been the right person in the right time 18 years ago? Maybe, but maybe not, right? And I think this is a great story of also going like, if you did it once, you can do it again.
Sarah Robbins (14:38)
Yeah.
Rory & AJ Vaden (14:45)
and we all have a chance to rebuild and it’s an attitude and a decision, as you said earlier, to go, what are we gonna do? I don’t think that you’re just a lucky person in the right seat. I think it was divinely orchestrated to get you to where you are. And a part of where you are is succeeding in this new season and doing it again. And so I wanna know, in this new season, right? Working with a new company, rebuilding,
It’s not easy. Let’s don’t sugarcoat it. That ain’t easy. It’s a lot of long hour days. ⁓ There’s a lot to it. In the middle of all that, you’ve also made this decision of going, okay, I’m not only gonna just rebuild my business, rebuild my team, I’m starting literally over from scratch, but I’m also gonna write a book. Why? Why now? Why this book? Why now?
Sarah Robbins (15:22)
Yeah.
Well, to tell you the truth, you know, because you had watched me prior to losing everything and I started to talk about and it was always a dream of mine to write like a real business book, the one that you see on a shelf in the Barnes and Noble and it’s like all of the years of wisdom, experience and stories. And to be honest, in the backdrop, I was like, okay, the book is written. I know what to do. I’ve already got everything ready, everything set. And then comes the news and you know,
What you said is true. What was going through my head was, I’m not starting from scratch. Yes, I have to build brand new customer by customer, but I’m starting with wisdom and experience and systems. And so the interesting thing and the really neat thing was a lot of times when we read a book, comes from years of experience. So wisdom, which is so helpful, but it’s like, what if we can combine that with building in the trenches too?
Rory & AJ Vaden (16:23)
That’s good.
Sarah Robbins (16:39)
And so what I did was I’m like back to the manuscript, back to the pages. And it actually put all of my systems to the pressure cooker and they performed. We started building faster than the first time, but the really neat thing was this. It caused me to really comb through everything I did then. What I was doing today to say, what is timeless and true in our industry? What will always work?
building relationships, follow-up, et cetera. But with technology and social media, how are things evolving? How are things changing? Like a good example, our profession has been around for over 100 years. Used to be the Avon ladies, right? They would sell products door to door. And so I was able to look and say, what is working right now? So it’s a really unique perspective of, here I am actually building. I’m in the trenches doing the thing. I know what I’m doing.
Rory & AJ Vaden (17:28)
Yeah.
Sarah Robbins (17:36)
But starting over again, will tell you, I’ve always had a spirit of excellence in everything that I’ve done. I mean, up until the final day of leading that business, I was still doing weekly sales calls to serve my team. But when you start over, and I know you know this, there is a level of excellence, another layer that you have to rise to, because there’s this urgency of not only having to meet a need, like your actual needs, but also
for the people that you serve as well. So for example, when we were doing events now in this new company, again, I was doing those until the final day every week for 18 years. But now I was going, okay, we’re gonna create like this whole invitation suite. We’re gonna give them the graphics, give them the language, give them the email blast, like everything they need so we can multiply. You always say? What you simplify, you multiply. Like we made our system so simple for our team.
Rory & AJ Vaden (18:08)
Hmm.
Sarah Robbins (18:34)
And that was the greatest thing. It’s like, here we are building and alongside sharing these best practices and a book. And that’s kind of how the multiply method came to be.
Rory & AJ Vaden (18:46)
Yeah, so that’s the title of the new book, The Multiply Method. And I love that little phrase, like when you simplify, you multiply. Because if it’s too complex, we just can’t remember it. If it’s too complicated, you can’t do it. And the simpler it is, the better. But as humans, we try to overcomplicate things. So in your words, what would you say is if you had to like sum up the book in a sentence, who’s the book for and what it’s about?
Sarah Robbins (19:14)
This book, The Multiply Method is for social sellers. So direct sellers, if you sell anything, affiliate marketing, network marketing, direct sales, it’s for you, anybody, any company, any level, it’s going to help you level up. And here’s the thing, as a former kindergarten teacher, the thing that I love the most is taking complex topics like social media, sales, and simplifying them and creating simple systems. So these are simple systems.
words that work, little frameworks for every single element of the business, like prospecting, which is the art of inviting. How do I talk to people about what I do? Presenting, how do I share it powerfully, professionally in every setting? Closing, so we all need to know how do we close more sales? Customer acquisition and retention for sales that multiply and even how to sell on social media without constantly selling or sliding in the DMs and you’re bugging your best friend.
And so that’s really what it is all about is it’s creating simple systems to help people who are leading a sales team or of course looking to grow sales themselves.
Rory & AJ Vaden (20:22)
I love that. And I love the avatar too of social sellers. Right. And so what I’d like to do is just spend a few minutes. I’m watching the clock. I know we have a limit here because this could easily take a long time because I kind of picked a few topics out of the different pillars and chapters of the book, but I thought would be really value written for everyone who’s listening. Because again, we all are in the business of client acquisition, client retention, talent acquisition, or talent retention. So some of these, I even think really apply to
Sarah Robbins (20:25)
Yes.
Rory & AJ Vaden (20:52)
like recruiting and maintaining like sales of sales, right? It doesn’t matter if it’s a client or a recruit. So first thing, let’s start with prospecting. One of the things that I love that you say is that conversations are the new presentations. What does that look like in real time?
Sarah Robbins (21:07)
Yeah.
Yeah. So I love like, it’s like when I’m trying to strike up a conversation with people, the number one mistake that I see people make, and we’ve seen it before, it’s happened to all of us. Someone slides in the DM and they start selling you something. And it’s like, I’m sorry, who are you? And what are you doing here? Right? It’s like social media is a social platform. And I got to flip the script. Let’s prioritize people over profit relationship over revenue. So what I teach is a simple framework.
Rory & AJ Vaden (21:26)
Yeah.
Mmm, that’s good.
Sarah Robbins (21:39)
Compliment, conversation, connection. So let’s say you and I hadn’t talked for a while, AJ, and I wanted to share my business with you. I’d first go to your feed and find out what’s new and exciting with you, something that I could compliment you on or congratulate you on. And I would say the obvious. would say, AJ, I know it’s been a while. Your post popped up in my feed. Congratulations on becoming a New York Times bestseller. And really, congratulations. I mean, that’s so awesome. And then I would ask, how have you guys been? Tell me more about the book. How do you get into conversation?
Rory & AJ Vaden (22:03)
Thank
Yeah. Good.
Sarah Robbins (22:09)
You ask questions.
And then when the time is right, we make that connection. Hey, where are you guys living now? Oh, you’re here. Okay, wonderful. I have a business that’s expanding there. I would love to follow up, kind of get in touch. Could I meet you and treat you to coffee or a little virtual coffee? And again, when we prioritize that relationship, not only are we the person that people want to do business with,
but we’re the person that people want to refer people onto as well. So always prioritize that relationship first.
Rory & AJ Vaden (22:42)
Hey, that’s good, y’all. Everyone should write this down to remind yourself that social media is a social platform. And I love that. And I love the simplicity, of you just compliment, start a conversation, then make a connection. It’s back to the simplicity of it. And I think that for a lot of us, we just overthink sales, and then it becomes too salesy. It’s like this whole concept of conversations or the new presentations is brilliant, because that’s how it should have always been.
Sarah Robbins (22:55)
less.
Mm-hmm.
Yes.
Rory & AJ Vaden (23:11)
Nobody has ever become a successful salesperson in a monologue. Always been the best salespeople have a dialogue. They ask questions, then they get responses and they use that versus I ask a few questions and then I go into a 30 minute presentation. And so this is just putting that back into these new micro opportunities with social media and text messages and all the different platforms that we’re having. So I love that.
Sarah Robbins (23:16)
True.
Rory & AJ Vaden (23:39)
Right? conversations are the new presentations. And don’t forget that social media is a social platform. That’s simplifying prospecting just a little bit. We love that. Y’all, let me go ahead and just plug this. Like if you’re already going, ⁓ yeah, I need more of that. Let me just encourage you right now to go get the book, The Multiply Method. And you can go to themultiplymethod.com. Right?
easy breezy, right? Themultiplymethod.com. You can get the book. I would say at the time of this recording, it’s pre-order, but by the time this goes live, you’ll be able to get the book immediately within 24 hours. So get a copy of the book. There’s some awesome bonuses that come along with it. So please check out the book. We’re going to talk about more of the book content, and I’ll remind you of this in just a few minutes. if already you’re going, just the simplicity of reframing how I think about selling and presentations.
TheMultiplyMethod.com. That’s where you get to pick up the book, right? Okay. Next one I picked out was around overcoming objections and closing. Okay. So what advice would you give to someone who feels discouraged or stuck when it comes to making the ask? Because I feel like a lot of people, they’ll do a really good job at asking some questions. They have great benefit written quote unquote presentations. And then they just never ask.
Sarah Robbins (24:44)
Yes.
Yeah, I always say you have to get your ask ASK in gear and you have not if you ask not. So usually what I say, you know, when I close, I always say recommendation, validation and role. So that’s kind of like a simple way to sell is I’ll ask again, let’s say that you reach out to me and say, Sarah, I want to try your skin care. I would say, great. If you could change one thing about your skin, what would it be and why change one thing about your blank? What would it be and why? And I would say, here’s what I recommend to you. I recommend this regimen.
Then validation, I’m going to send you some before and after pictures, a story. Success in selling is not about selling, it’s storytelling. It could be a before and after, maybe you’re in internet marketing, it could be a testimonial, et cetera. And it’s enough to just say, they love it, you’re going to love it. And then we’re going to ask. I love to lead with an offer or a guarantee because that kind of creates urgency. And then I ask, would you like to give it a try? And by the way, that subtle sell, it feels good to ask that way. But when we end with a question,
People actually have to respond. And here’s the thing, I always prep people for with objections. Sometimes we hear no. And no is not a four-letter word. The way that we respond to no, I always say respond with two words and a phrase. Two words and a phrase. So when somebody says no, I say, no problem. I’d love to put you on my VIP list for future offers and events. I add them to my email follow-up, my text follow-up.
So if I have an event or an offer that I can invite them to, we know with sales, it’s very rare that we actually close people on the first exposure. So if I have an event or if I have an offer, I can reach back out and say, AJ, earlier you expressed interest, here’s this great thing we have or this great event we have going on. Would you like to be my guest or would you like to take another look? And again, the fortune is in the follow-up.
Rory & AJ Vaden (26:54)
Yeah, I love that. And you’re so right. The fortune is in the follow up, you know, back to like the best sales people are great storytellers. I cannot tell you how many stories story after story after story after story of people who have come to be clients at brand builders group have been following us for years. Years. Right? This was not a first interaction close. They heard a podcast, requested a call and bought on the spot. It’s
No, they heard us on a podcast, started following it on social media, maybe heard us on another podcast. I see they have a book coming out, got the free audio book. And it’s like, there have been several touch points. And I can’t tell you how many people have also, I’ve just encountered at our events who’ve also said, you know, I did my first sales call five years ago. I’m like, five years ago, what took you so long? And they’re like, well, in that season, it just, wasn’t a right fit, but I liked.
I liked what you guys were about. liked what you were doing. I just knew that I didn’t have the time for it, but you guys stayed in touch and I stayed in touch and here I am five years later. And I think that’s a great reminder that the fortune is in the followup. And also it’s a reframe too of, you one of the things that I used to tell all of our sales team at our former company, which I remind our team now today too, but it’s like, you have to make the decision that you never hear no, you only hear not right now.
Sarah Robbins (28:17)
Yes.
Rory & AJ Vaden (28:18)
Right? it’s, that’s just a mindset reframe of it’s not a no, it’s just a not right now.
Sarah Robbins (28:23)
Yeah. Yeah. And can I just
say something was I followed you both for 18, 15 to 18 years. I had first heard about the two of you when I was in my first company. And I think y’all had spoken at an event in Tennessee. So I knew who you were. I started following your stuff. So here I am 15 years later as a client of yours. So again, I love that quote. It’s like,
timing perseverance, 10 years of trying, you eventually look like an overnight success. It’s like, we are in a relationship business. And, know, again, I followed all of the content that you were giving for free, all of the podcasts, and I did all of their learning. And then it’s like, boom, when the time is right. So it’s exactly what you said. It’s no, not now. Why? Because the timing has to be right for the other person too.
Rory & AJ Vaden (28:54)
Thanks
Right. Like what you said, like this, we’re in the relationship business. Guess what? Relationships take time. Like relationships take time. Most of us would not go on a first date and make a proposal to get married on a first date, right? It requires time and investment and questioning and curiosity. And there’s like this, this courting phase that happens that I even find with consumers and businesses. It’s like, even when I’m going to the mall, I’ll browse.
several stores before I go back to the store that I want to buy something from. It’s like, want to see what my options are, see what I like, who I like. And it’s really not all that different, even if we’re in a direct sales or professional selling environment. A lot of it is the same. And I think that’s a really important reminder that the fortune’s in the follow-up. Because a huge part of being successful in sales is just being the most persistent and the last one to stay in touch. Because most people give up.
I love that and I love that. It’s like success in sales is not about selling. It’s about storytelling. And that’s another reframe in general around how can you become a great storyteller. I saw something on Instagram the other day that said ⁓ presentation skills are a leadership requirement. And it made me think about the best leaders are also great storytellers. Same with sales. The best salespeople are great storytellers because people remember stories.
not facts and benefits. They remember stories. They’ll love that. Okay, next one. I have so many to talk about. ⁓ Okay, this is the next one. What, in your opinion, on the leadership side, talking about leadership, what makes a team duplicatable, right? So what have you seen works really, really well and what should you stay far, far away from?
Sarah Robbins (31:05)
Leadership is not about being the smartest in the room, having the fanciest of funnels in our business. We’re a business of duplication. So I actually, instead of looking at what can I do, right? Because I have the means to invest in things and to hire out, to have people do all, like if I wanted to do all the fancy funnels, but instead I think it’s not just what I do, is will it.
duplicate. So I have to boil down every single element of the business in a way that it becomes so simple that the everyday, that the average person, that the part-time person could do it. And so there are things that I could do, but I don’t do because I realize that I’m going to slow things down for my team. You know, it’s interesting. You said too many people kind of focus on sales.
Even at my business with product, many people focus on science. And I’m like, here’s the thing that it’s doing right now. It is slowing down your sales, but it’s also slowing down your sales team. So if we want to create an environment where our sales and our sales team, it grows month over month, or in our industry, people have to say, lead a sales team into momentum. There is no way that I can find millions of customers myself. I had millions of customers in our previous business, not me.
But our team, momentum is created by empowering a lot of people to do a little bit more. And how do you do that? By creating really simple systems. Again, it goes back to that idea of what we simplify, we multiply. Sometimes when people like they’re in my coaching programs or, you know, they’re reading the book or whatever, they’re going, this is so simple. I’m like, yes, you will be surprised at how simple this is. That is by design. And so again, it’s having very simple systems from
Rory & AJ Vaden (32:34)
Mm-hmm.
Sarah Robbins (32:59)
effective enrolling to onboarding. That’s how we start a new person. So again, this duplicates down the entire team. It’s kind of like pseudo franchising. It’s like we all know of like that really successful, you know, coffee franchise. There’s one on every corner. And I don’t care if you like the coffee or you are allergic to the coffee. If you were to walk into one of those coffee shops, you know exactly what to expect as a consumer. Guess what? Every single employee walks in and they know exactly what.
to do. And it’s created, you know, this multi-billion dollar global giant. Now in my business, it’s like pseudo franchising because we don’t have overhead employees that brick and mortar building, right? But we build our business on simple replicatable systems.
Rory & AJ Vaden (33:44)
I love that. I love what you said too is just like massive momentum cannot happen alone. Right. And it reminds me of that old African proverb. If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go with others. Yeah. And it’s so much like that. And I think, again, leadership mentality is you’re not going to do this by yourself. Right.
Sarah Robbins (33:58)
That’s good.
Rory & AJ Vaden (34:06)
So who’s the team and how can you help them succeed as quickly as you’re helping yourself succeed? I had a mentor in my younger days, his name was Ron Marks. And I love, I use this story all the time. And he talks about how to go from a great performer, sales performer, to a great leader, you have to learn how to stop being in the spotlight and instead become the spotlight operator. And it’s like, that’s so much of what you’re saying. It’s like, it’s not about me anymore.
It’s about the collective, it’s about them, and it’s not being in the spotlight, it’s being the spotlight operator.
Sarah Robbins (34:41)
That’s very good. And let me just say that was something that kind of I had this mindset shift to in this new season. Where actually you’ll see behind me, it was cute when I first started my business, my last name is Robbins and people call me Rockin’ Robbins. And you know, of course that just stuck and that became our team name. And in this new season, we came together and I was like, this is one team. We’re just, one team. It’s not about a person. It’s not about a name. It’s a mission. It’s a vision.
and how do we lift this movement and how do we come together as leaders and really lift this launch? So it’s like 20 years later, just kind of seeing how all of that evolves too, but I totally agree.
Rory & AJ Vaden (35:20)
Yeah, I love that. And I think those are all just like the great reminders of leadership in general and like how are you seen and how do you see your team because that affects the culture and all those like micro momentum movements. Okay, next one, I social media and scaling. And so what would you say is working right now on social that others might be missing?
Sarah Robbins (35:46)
Yeah, to be successful on social, specifically if you’re selling, you got to stop selling all the time. It’s focused on storytelling. One of the things you and Rory said to me is, because I was going through kind of season of promoting my book, I’m like, my gosh, I feel like I’m selling. And you’re like, you’re serving. And I was like, that is true. But there are two things that really work when it comes to social media is creating posts that perform with the audience and in the algorithm. And it’s always first and foremost with the audience. Why?
We have to create content that people actually like, not just hit the like button, but it’s like, we have to pause before we post every day and ask ourselves, how can I make his or her life easier today? Like, who’s my avatar? If I sell wellness, besides talking about my products, because my product is only one solution to the problems that they’re facing, what other things can I share? Recipes. My favorite supplement stack that aren’t all from my company.
how I’m getting the water, high protein snacks, a lot of different ideas that speaks to her or speaks to him. So if you want to trump the algorithm, you’re the place that people check on purpose, that they go to for a source of inspiration, motivation, education. And then the second side of it is after we’ve said, I given great value today, or did I just show up to sell something, is thinking about the algorithm.
As it relates to social media, conversation is the currency of social media. And what do I mean by that? So the algorithm looks for saves and shares. So think about your favorite recipe. That would be something that maybe they would share with a friend or save. Likes and loves, right? Content that people do naturally like or they love. A lot of that is like posts about our babies, our grandbabies, our fur babies, right? Like all of that really fuzzy feel good stuff.
but then also comments and conversation. So used to be in social media, we would post links. Problem is now the algorithm doesn’t like that, but also too, you can’t follow up on that. So I teach people that instead of posting links or language, what I’ll do is I’ll say, drop the word blank, whatever it is I’m talking about for more info. So drop the word collagen for info, drop the word insider for info, and people will comment one word and now I can follow up on that conversation.
Rory & AJ Vaden (37:53)
Damn.
Sarah Robbins (38:11)
but I will always take it a step further. So I’ll end with a one word call to action or even a question like, what is your favorite way to get in all your protein? I’m inviting you into the conversation, but I go back into the comment section and I ask more questions to create more conversation. Not only does it build a relationship, but what does that do? It tells the algorithm, a lot of people are hanging out here and talking. I want to show this post to more people.
So at the end of the day, we want to think about how will people actually naturally like this and what kind of content can I create that will spark a conversation too.
Rory & AJ Vaden (38:48)
Yeah, I think that’s I think that you really hit it it’s like you have to focus on serving the audience and making sure that you’re doing it with the algorithm in mind and it’s not one or the other it’s how do you both do both because you can right you can do both but I think that is something that’s really good just for everyone it’s like hey are you making content just for the algorithm are you making content just for the avatar right just for your audience and it’s like how do you actually come and do both
How do you serve the person, but then also make sure that you’re hitting all the things that you need to hit for the algorithm. Otherwise, no one’s going to see it and you stay the world’s best kept secret, which isn’t serving anyone. I love that. The other thing I heard you say, that’s kind of what I to call out is that, you you didn’t say it in these words, but this is what I heard you saying. It’s like, trust is the great multiplier. It’s like, be the trusted resource that people go to even if it’s not for your products or services.
Sarah Robbins (39:31)
True.
Rory & AJ Vaden (39:47)
You just have to be someone that they can trust because you’re being real, authentic, it’s valid, it’s credible. And then because of that, you’re never selling, you’re just serving.
Sarah Robbins (39:58)
Yeah, think about the people that we don’t wait for the algorithm to serve up their posts. I mean, there are people that I wake up and I’m like, I can’t wait to see what this person shared or the content that this one dropped. Right. And for me, it’s like, I have those several accounts that I’m going to every single day because they give such great value.
Rory & AJ Vaden (40:19)
Yeah, who’s your favorite account that you follow?
Sarah Robbins (40:22)
my gosh, I have so many of them, but actually one of them, I just did a podcast with her, is my friend Emily, Emily Ford. And I think for me, it’s like, there’s a few things that I feel like I relate to is, you know, faith, you know, and she’s always talking about faith and fashion and all the fun stuff, business, which again, I really align with. And she just kind of has like a cool way of like, you know, kind of sharing her message, but helping others share, you know, their message with the world. And then obviously,
you guys as well.
Rory & AJ Vaden (40:54)
We don’t count, but I think that’s good because it’s like, know, you got to have like what, and I love what you said too. It’s like, you’re not going there for one thing. It’s like, Hey, I really love her take on fashion and faith and business back to it’s like just a trusted resource. And it doesn’t have to be, cause I think that’s something that people struggle with. When we think about what are, what’s working that sometimes people are missing is they make it all about content. It’s just content, content, content. And it’s like, maybe people just want to know what you like to eat.
Sarah Robbins (41:02)
Yes.
Rory & AJ Vaden (41:20)
Maybe they want to know what your favorite vacation spot is or where you shop. And I hear so many people in my world going, they don’t care. I’m like, I think they do. Actually, I think they do care. And I think that’s back to it’s like this is because people want to know you. They want to know if they can trust you. And the more that you have in common with someone, the more there’s this natural level of trust, even if you’ve never met them. So I love that you brought that up because it isn’t just about. leadership content or business content, it’s.
Sarah Robbins (41:20)
you
They do.
Rory & AJ Vaden (41:50)
mixture of all the things because that’s it takes all of that to build trust especially if you’ve never met someone. That’s good. I love that. Okay two last topics and then we’ll wrap up but okay talking a little bit about leadership again. What would you say differentiates a great recruiter from a great leader?
Sarah Robbins (41:56)
True.
Ooh, that’s so good. Here’s the thing I will say, and it’s interesting. I haven’t seen people, example, seller versus team builder, where it’s like they get a bunch of sales, but they don’t sponsor one person. And after my years of not only building a successful sales team, but doing coaching in the industry, working with thousands of people, I started to ask the right questions because I wanted to know why.
And it’s interesting, you know how we hear oftentimes about fear of failure, but there’s actually a fear of failing other people. Like if they did join me, how would I enroll them? How would I start them successfully? Like how would I onboard them and how would I lead them? And I think there’s two things like leadership is a decision. It’s a choice. You know, as we talked about earlier, that story of like the day I made a decision to lead,
Leadership is not a promotion. It is not a pay plan because I know great leaders that I wouldn’t follow to the bathroom. In fact, let me just say this. There were leaders who not just in my company, but in companies also that had recently closed. We fared really well. A lot of our leaders, like their team said, well, wherever you go for chapter two, we’re coming. You led well. You led till the end because leaders lead in mountaintops and in valleys. They lead from the front.
Rory & AJ Vaden (43:34)
Thank
Sarah Robbins (43:35)
And then I watched leaders who kind of like hung out for a while and they sat on a paycheck and they wondered why in the second chapter, nobody came. Ultimately, I think that is the big thing is, you know, how we lead by example, that we double down on relationships that we’re doubling down on leadership in every single season. I don’t care if you’re on the mountain. I don’t care if you’re in the valley.
Rory & AJ Vaden (43:45)
Hmm.
Sarah Robbins (44:02)
It’s like, you you continue with that same level of care, tenacity, and really like hands on, like being in the trenches with your team. That’s what I think separates a leader from just a team builder.
Rory & AJ Vaden (44:17)
That’s so good. I wrote that down. y’all didn’t, y’all need to write this down is that leadership is a decision, not a promotion, right? And it’s like, there was this book that was written, oh my gosh, probably 20 years ago. Can’t believe I’m old enough to read books 20 years ago. But it was called, you don’t have to have a title to be a leader. And it’s a lot of like, no, it’s a decision. It’s not a promotion. It’s not a pay raise because that doesn’t make a leader.
A leader is someone who says, I choose to be a leader regardless of my title, regardless of my pay, and that’s somebody worth following. That’s good. And I love that you don’t have to have a title to be a leader. This isn’t a promotion. You don’t have to get a pay raise or get a promotion to do it. It’s just something you start doing today. It’s a decision. And that is the difference of why think why some leaders are followed and others aren’t. Yeah, that’s good. OK, last topic.
Sarah Robbins (44:50)
True.
Rory & AJ Vaden (45:12)
When it comes to legacy and thinking about beyond all the things that you’re doing right now, what would you say for you with the multiply method? Like how does that contribute to your legacy and what is the legacy that you want to leave?
not just in your professional accolades, but think a lot of this is I think books are a culmination of a legacy piece of these are all the things that I’ve learned in my personal life and professional life. These are the things that I feel like I can contribute to the world to help, to make it better. Those are legacy pieces if you do them, right? So I’d be curious to hear like, what does that mean to you? And how does this book help forward that vision?
Sarah Robbins (45:52)
Well, I really have a heart to redeem the industry. I sometimes when people hear my story and they think, well, gosh, I hope it never happens to me. And what does this mean for the industry? I’m like, the industry is not dying. It’s evolving and changing in order for you to continue to grow with the industry. You have to evolve and change. And the truth is, is if I didn’t think it wasn’t the best gig on the planet, I wouldn’t be doing it again. I’m not going to attach my name and network just anywhere else. And so I think it’s to bring hope back to the profession.
There are very few female leaders in our space that are stepping forward, even outside of their company, to serve at this capacity. And we need more of us. I say a healthy profession is healthy for all of us. When one company wins, it’s not just your team. When one company wins, the whole industry wins when we really rebrand how people are looking at us. And then the second thing is, you know,
I would say it’s like we multiply leaders who multiply leaders. For me, I believe that God gave me such a gift of wisdom in this business. so for me, like, this isn’t just, he never said it was just for this team or for this group of people. So it’s taking that gift and sharing with more people. And as a former teacher, my joy comes. Like I would say coaching for me is not a career, it’s a calling. would do it for free. My joy comes from
giving somebody a system for something that they think is hard, sales, social media, whatever, giving them a simple system and seeing success unlock. That is my greatest joy, is just seeing others celebrate their wins too.
Rory & AJ Vaden (47:29)
I love that. And I think that’s a great reminder for all of you who are listening of going, man, a calling is something that you can’t not do. And it’s all of us. It is worth the effort, the investment of time, energy and money to figure out what that calling is. And when you find it, it’s pursuing it in the pursuit of excellence, regardless of the company, regardless of what it is of going, no, like I was given a gift and I’m going to use it.
and I’m gonna make sure that I’m real good at it. And I think that’s, because there was an alternative to this, Dara. You could have been very bitter and resentful, and you’re not. And you have chosen the path of forgiveness and gratefulness, and you have taken everything that you have learned, and you are multiplying it into the future. And we all have those unique opportunities. And I think that’s a really important message for all of us because…
No one said success is easy. No one said life was easy. Marriage is hard. Kids are hard. Work is hard. It’s like choose your hard, right? It’s hard to be single. It’s hard to be married, right? It’s hard to have kids. It’s hard not to. It’s hard to have a very big business. It’s hard to have no business. Choose your hard, choose wisely, and then be frigging good at it. All right, y’all. Follow Sarah.
Sarah Robbins that’s on your IG, but then y’all pick up a book. All right, if you have learned anything I wrote down like ten things already pick up a book the multiply method comm come into all bookstores near you What’s the official date August? 12th right around the release of this Sarah such a great interview. I’m so excited for this book, but I’m also I love your dream of redeeming an industry that is
Sarah Robbins (49:06)
Yay!
Rory & AJ Vaden (49:19)
Maybe not in the most favorable terms right now, but that doesn’t mean good isn’t happening, that success isn’t happening, that people aren’t thriving. They are, you’re a testament to that. I think it’s such a cool thing that you’re doing. I’m so excited to see this book come out into the world. So y’all grab a copy, stay tuned for the recap episode and follow Sarah on social media. We’ll pull all the links in the show notes. Sarah, thank you. This was so wonderful. All right, everybody, we’ll see you next time.
Sarah Robbins (49:44)
Thank you.
Rory & AJ Vaden (49:48)
on the influential personal brand.